Book Review:Lost at School:Why Our Kids with Behavioral Challenges Are Falling Through the Cracks and How We Can Help Them by Ross W. Greene, Ph.D. (author of The Explosive Child).
Understanding the WHY of challenging behavior:
This is the objective of Collaborative Problem Solving (CPS) model (Greene 2008):
Learning how to initiate change (implementing Plan B:see forms below)
Establishing structures to support and sustain it.
School structure that provides regular meeting time for staff and with parents.
It is not possible to provide high-quality help to challenging students when adults don’t have time to talk !
Promotes a mentality that encourages a relentless focus on continuous improvement.
CPS is action-oriented (most school discipline codes are Plan A oriented).After seeing progress with Plan B, educator notice that the discipline code is both obsolete and no longer consistent with current pro-active practices.
Revamping school discipline needs :
Vision (what we are trying to accomplish)
Perseverance (it won’t happen overnight !)
Resilience (this isn’t going well, but I’m confident that it will)
Collaboration (let’s work together to figure out how to make it better)
Patience (individuals progress at different paces)
Perspective (long-term goals, but look how far we’ve come !)
Purpose (prioritize importance and keep it in perspective with our vision !)
“There is no single solution for any challenge, only what the kid and his adult caregivers come up with to address their respective concerns.” (p. 276).
A Philosophy :Kids (and adults) do well if they can. A mantra :Behind every challenging behavior is an unsolved problem or a lagging skill, or both. Knowledge :Traditional school discipline does not teach skills or help kids solve problems. Some goals :Significantly improve your understanding of the challenging kids in your classroom and school.Create mechanisms for responding to their needs proactively rather than emergently. A Mission :If we were going to start doing right by the challenging kids in our school, what would that look like ? A new methodology :Plan B (Empathy, Define the Problem, and the Invitation) Analysis of Lagging Skills and Unsolved Problems & the CPS Plan
The rest is practice, tenacity, patience, perseverance, team work, and a desire for continuous improvement (and hope).Remain calmly optimistic and relentlessly persistent in the face of all odds.
Contributed by Sarah Laurens
Book Review: Lost at School: Why Our Kids with Behavioral Challenges Are Falling Through the Cracks and How We Can Help Them by Ross W. Greene, Ph.D. (author of The Explosive Child).
Understanding the WHY of challenging behavior:
This is the objective of Collaborative Problem Solving (CPS) model (Greene 2008):
Promotes a mentality that encourages a relentless focus on continuous improvement.
CPS is action-oriented (most school discipline codes are Plan A oriented). After seeing progress with Plan B, educator notice that the discipline code is both obsolete and no longer consistent with current pro-active practices.
Revamping school discipline needs :
“There is no single solution for any challenge, only what the kid and his adult caregivers come up with to address their respective concerns.” (p. 276).
A Philosophy : Kids (and adults) do well if they can.
A mantra : Behind every challenging behavior is an unsolved problem or a lagging skill, or both.
Knowledge : Traditional school discipline does not teach skills or help kids solve problems.
Some goals : Significantly improve your understanding of the challenging kids in your classroom and school. Create mechanisms for responding to their needs proactively rather than emergently.
A Mission : If we were going to start doing right by the challenging kids in our school, what would that look like ?
A new methodology : Plan B (Empathy, Define the Problem, and the Invitation)
Analysis of Lagging Skills and Unsolved Problems & the CPS Plan
The rest is practice, tenacity, patience, perseverance, team work, and a desire for continuous improvement (and hope). Remain calmly optimistic and relentlessly persistent in the face of all odds.